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The rules of Age of Heroes are relatively easy and straightforward. We have edited them numerous times in response to player suggestions, and feel the current set is about as good as we can make it. If there are future rules changes, they will be reflected here. Recent Changes: None You can download the current rules in Microsoft Word format here. Current Rules Text: Age Of Heroes(c) 2003 Legend Games Rules Version 1.2 December 15, 2003 Setting Up The Game Separate the Cards into a Resource Deck, an Item Deck and a Battle Deck, according to the design printed on the back of each card. There are six Tribe Cards which can be folded in the middle and used as a Standup Card during play. The Tribe Card for each player should be placed on the table in front of that player. The Resource Deck and Battle Deck should each be thoroughly shuffled. The Item Deck contains numerous objects which can be built or purchased during play, and should be sorted into piles and placed face-up in the play area. To determine the order of play, each player draws one Card from the Battle Deck. The holder of the highest Card (the largest number of sword-and-shield combinations) goes first. In case of a tie, draw again among the tying players until one player has the highest number. Return the Battle Cards to the Deck and reshuffle. Each Player then selects a Tribe. Players may select Tribes in any way that is mutually agreeable. If no method of selection can be agreed upon by all players, then players select randomly by drawing Tribe Cards, with the first player taking the first Tribe pick. Unused Tribes are set aside. Special Resource Cards associated with those Tribes remain in the Resource Deck, but have no use in play. Each player takes one City and one Army Card from the Item Deck and displays them face-up in front of his Tribe Card; these are each Tribe's beginning items. Item Cards are always displayed face-up. The first player then deals three Cards from the Resource Deck to each player. Resource Cards are always held in the hand until used or played. Any disaster Cards drawn as part of the starting hand (Famine, Barbarians, Earthquake, or Volcano) is discarded, but not replaced. Beneficial special event Cards which must be played immediately (Population Boom) are played immediately before the game begins. Once all players have discarded any disaster Cards or played any special event Cards, a Market Day is held. (See the section on Market Day for details on how Market Day is played.) During this first Market Day, as with the initial Cards drawn, any disaster-type special event Cards are discarded, not played. After this initial Market Day, each player takes a turn, beginning with the first player, and proceeding around the table in a clockwise direction. There is an additional Market Day every time the sequence of play goes completely around the table (i.e, immediately before the turn of the first player.) The Turn A player's turn is composed of five parts or phases. The player draws a free Resource Card, conducts an action, plays any Special Resource Cards for his monument, discards any Cards in his hand in excess of five, and retrieves or removes any Cards which have changed status in the course of the turn. Draw a Resource Card The player draws one Card. If the Card must be played immediately, then the player must do so before conducting any further actions. Players do not get to draw another Card if the free Card they draw is a disaster or special event. If the Resource Deck runs out of Cards, thoroughly re-shuffle the discard pile and use it as the Resource Deck. Conduct An Action The player can conduct one, and only one, action. There are three possible actions to take. Collecting Taxes - The player may draw one additional Resource Card for each City that he possesses. If a player has no Cities, then he may TRADE a Resource Card by discarding one Resource Card from his hand and drawing a new Resource Card from the Deck. Building - The player may build items by trading in Resource Cards. The player may build as many items as they can afford. Items built are pulled from the Item Deck. If there are no more available Item Cards of a particular type, then no more of those items can be built until the appropriate Card is returned to the Deck in some fashion. (For example, if 12 Cities have been built, then it is not possible for anyone build another City until a City is destroyed by a Volcano and the appropriate Item Card returned to the Deck.) War - The player may send some or all of his Armies to attack one other player. (See the Battle section for details on battles.) If a player does not wish to take an action on his turn, he is not required to. Play a Special Resource Each player has a special resource which they are trying to collect in order to build his Tribe's cultural monument (which is one way of winning the game.) The resource each Tribe needs is listed on the special Standup Card. This phase of the turn is the ONLY time when players can place Special Resource Cards on the table and bring their monument closer to completion. Players can place as many Special Resource Cards as they wish on their monument during this phase. Special resource Cards must be placed face-up. Only the correct type of Special Resource Card can be played; i.e., the Egyptian player cannot place a Concrete Card. Discard At the end of his turn, a player cannot hold more than five Cards in his hand. Only on the player's turn, and only at the end of the turn, is this rule enforced. (For example, a player can conduct a skillful trading session during Market Day, or plunder another player's hand in combat, and have more than five Cards in his hand.) Remove/Retrieve Cards During this phase, any Cards which need to be retrieved or removed are moved appropriately. Armies sent out on a previous turn return home. Earthquake Cards disabling the player's Armies are removed. Once the player has completed his turn, play proceeds clockwise. When each player has had a turn, a complete round has been played, and a Market Day is held. Market Day At the very beginning of the game, and once each round of play (once each player has had one turn), there is a Market Day. On Market Day, players can trade Cards from the Resource Deck among themselves. At the beginning of Market Day, each player draws additional Cards from the Resource Deck (beginning with the player who began the game, and proceeding clockwise). Players always get to draw at least one Card. If a player's Tribe is connected by Roads to other Tribes, that player gets to draw additional Cards for each Tribe he is connected to. (A connection is an unbroken Road link through any number of other Tribes - if a player is connected by Road to five other Tribes, then he gets to draw five additional Cards.) If the Resource Deck runs out of Cards, thoroughly re-shuffle the discard pile and use it as the Resource Deck. After each player draws his additional Cards, any Cards which must be played immediately are played, beginning with the starting player and proceeding clockwise. If a Barbarian attack occurs, then that battle is resolved before proceeding with Market Day. Once all special event Cards have been resolved, trading begins. Players can have more than five Cards in their hands during Market Day. There are two kinds of trades on Market Day - Card trades, and other kinds of deals. Card trades are enforced - if a player offers to trade a Stone Card for an Iron Card, they must deliver. If they don't, they are out of the game. (Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the uninvolved players for cases of honest error.) Deal trades are for any other kind of transaction. If a player offers to give a Gold Card in exchange for not being attacked on the next turn, the two players can make that deal. However, if one side breaks its word and attacks anyway, then there is no consequence within the game. (However, there will certainly be a consequence in how much other players will trust the deal-breaker in future games!) To avoid misunderstandings, the suggested format for announcing willingness to trade is "I have an Iron Card that I would like to trade for a Wood Card", or "I need a Marble Card...does anyone have a Marble Card?" Players can trade any Card from the Resource Deck (Resources, Special Resources, non-immediate special events such as Mighty Heroes or Olympic Games), but cannot trade Cards from the Item Deck (Cities, Armies, Citadels, Generals, etc.) Battles When a player decides to attack another Tribe, he decides which Armies and/or Generals to send into battle. Once committed to the battle, these Armies are sent off - they cannot be recalled, and they cannot be reinforced if the defender suddenly plays a Mighty Hero Card or an Olympic Games Card. Any Mighty Hero Cards that the attacking player wishes to play must be sent with this initial attack, and the attacking player must decide whether the Hero is to be used as an Army or a General. (If the attacking player has no Armies which are not covered by a General, then he cannot play a Mighty Hero as a General.) Players can only attack one Tribe - they cannot send multiple Armies against multiple targets. When a player attacks another Tribe, he must declare the objective of the attack. There are three possible objectives. An attack for CONQUEST is an attempt to seize one or more Cities by force. An attack for PLUNDER is an attempt to take the Resource Cards in the defending Tribe's hand. An attack for RAZING is an attempt to damage the defending Tribe's cultural monument. (When Barbarian Armies attack, they are always attacking for PLUNDER.) The defending player must then decide what, if any, special Cards to play. An Olympic Games Card will send the enemy Armies back home, while a Mighty Hero will add to the defending forces. A Luck Card can send Barbarians away, but is of no use against an attack by another player. Defending Armies which are under an Earthquake Card do not participate in the battle, of course. The attacking player draws one Battle Card for each attacking Army he has in the battle. The defending player then draws one Battle Card for each defending Army. Each player places one Battle Card beneath one of their Army Cards - they can place whichever Battle Cards they wish under whichever Armies they wish. Each player then selects one Army Card to fight a round of the battle. The Cards are revealed, and any applicable bonuses are applied. (The defending player gets a +1 bonus for each Citadel Card he possesses, and both players can get bonuses of +2 if the Army Card being played has a General on top of it.) If one side's total is higher than the other side, then the losing side's Army is destroyed, along with any General that might be with it. If there is a tie, then neither side loses an Army during that round. If the attacking Army wins the round, then that Army is considered Victorious. Rounds of battle are fought, with both sides selecting a new Army Card and revealing Battle Cards, until the side with the fewest Armies has used all its Army Cards. At that point the battle is over, and the results of the combat are calculated. All destroyed Armies and Generals are returned to the Item Deck. The attacking player calculates how many Victorious Armies he possesses. An Army is Victorious if it defeated a defending Army in battle, or if there was no defending Army to fight it. (So a player who attacks with six Armies against a defender who has three Armies, will automatically have at least three Victorious Armies.) If the attacking player declared his attack was for conquest, then if he has at least two Victorious Armies he may take one of the defending Tribe's Cities and add it to his collection. If he has four or more Victorious Armies he may take two of the defending Tribe's Cities, if the defending Tribe has that many. If the attacking player declared an attack for plunder, then he may take two Cards from the defending Tribe's hand for each Victorious Army. The Cards are selected randomly; neither the attacking nor the defending player may pick out which Cards are transferred. If a Barbarian Army plunders a hand, the Cards are selected randomly and are discarded immediately, along with the Barbarian Card. If the attacking player declared an attack for razing, then he may remove one Special Resource Card from the defending Tribe's monument if he has at least one Victorious Army. He may remove two Special Resource Cards if he has at least three Victorious Armies. The Special Resource Cards are immediately discarded. After the battle is resolved, the attacking player should place any surviving Armies beneath his Tribe Standup Card. The Armies will return home to their Tribe at the end of the attacking player's next turn. If there is a direct Road connection between the two Tribes (not a continuous Road through another Tribe), then the Armies do NOT go beneath the Tribe Standup Card - they return home immediately! All Battle Cards are returned to the Battle Deck and re-shuffled. The Cards Each Card in the game has several pieces of art and text which describe the Card's basic role in the game. Most game Cards contain factual text concerning the subject of the Card. This fact text is not directly used in the game but is of interest. The Resource Deck The Resource Deck contains three different types of Cards. Ordinary Resource Cards are Iron, Wood, Grain, Stone and Gold. These Cards can be used to purchase items such as Cities or Armies. Gold is a unique type of Resource Card; a Gold Card can be used as a substitute for any other ordinary Resource. Special Resource Cards are the Cards that each Tribe collects in order to build its special cultural monument. The Egyptian Tribe collects Limestone, the Roman Tribe collects Concrete, the Greek Tribe collects Marble, the Babylonian Tribe collects Brick, the Celtic Tribe collects Sandstone, and the Chinese Tribe collects Granite. Special Resource Cards have no use other than for building monuments, and they can only be used by the Tribe which collects them. They are, however, highly valued in trade by those Tribes. Special event Cards are either disasters or beneficial to the Tribe that draws them. Most special event Cards are played immediately, a few (Mighty Hero, Olympic Games, Luck) can be held as part of a player's hand. Population Boom - this treasured Card immediately gives the lucky person who drew it a free City. Earthquake - when this Card is drawn, the player who drew it must immediately play it on an Army belonging to any other Tribe. That Army is frightened off by the earthquake, and does not return until the end of the owning player's turn. Army Cards which are covered by a General Card are immune to Earthquakes. Volcano - when this dreadful Card is drawn, the player who drew it must immediately play it on a City belonging to another Tribe. That unfortunate City is destroyed utterly, and the City Card is returned to the Item Deck. Famine - when this Card is drawn, any Grain Cards in all players' hands must immediately be discarded. Barbarians - when a Barbarian Card is drawn, a Barbarian Army attacks the drawing player's Tribe! The Barbarian Army will plunder the drawing player's hand if it is victorious (see the Battles section for more detail.) Olympic Games - this Card can be held in the drawing player's hand. It prevents one attack when played. The Olympic Games can be used against either Barbarians or against an attack by another Tribe. Barbarian Cards are simply discarded; attacking Armies of another Tribe return home as if a battle had taken place normally. Mighty Hero - this useful Card can be held in the drawing player's hand. A Mighty Hero can be used as either an Army or a General in ONE battle, at the holding player's discretion. The Hero can be used either as part of an attack (or as the entire attack!) or on defense. Luck - the Luck Card can be used to block the effects of one harmful special event (Famine, Volcano, Earthquake, or Barbarians). When used, the Luck Card must be discarded. The Battle Deck The Battle Deck contains Cards with between one and six sword-and-shield combinations. The number of sword-and-shield combinations is the value of the Card. The Battle Deck should be reshuffled each time it is used. The Item Deck The Item Deck contains the items which players can build as part of their Tribe. Armies are large groups of well-equipped brave fighting men. Each Army Card allows players to draw one Battle Card in combat. To build an Army Card requires one Iron and two Grain Cards. Citadels are large fortifications used to defend a Tribe. Each Citadel Card adds one to the value of each Battle Card drawn by the defending side in a battle. Citadel Cards are additive - if a player has more than one Citadel defending his Tribe, his battle Cards get an extra +1 for each additional Citadel. Citadels only help a Tribe that is attacked - they are of no use to a Tribe that is attacking someone else. To build a Citadel requires one Iron, one Wood, and one Stone Card. Generals are great leaders who make Armies more effective. Each General Card allows players to add two to the value of one of his Battle Cards in combat. (See the Battles section for more detail.) Generals are assigned to an Army - the General Card is placed permanently on the Army Card. A player cannot have more than one General for each Army. An Army Card that has a General attached to it is immune from Earthquake Cards. To build a General requires one Iron and one Gold Card. Roads are links from one Tribe to another. Each Road Card allows a player to draw an additional Card on Market Day (see the Market Day section for more details.) Roads also assist in battle (see the Battles section for more details.) A player can only build Roads to his two immediate neighbors (one to the left, one to the right). The Road Card is placed on the table between the two Tribes connected by the Road, so as to remind players of where the Road goes. Both players connected by a Road receive all of the benefits of the Road. Before building a Road to a neighbor, that neighbor must give permission for the Road to be built. This permission is sought before deciding on an action for the turn, so if permission is denied, the building player may change his action. To build a Road requires two Stone Cards. Cities are the population centers that are the heart of a Tribe. Each City Card allows a player to draw a Resource Card when collecting taxes on his turn. To build a City requires one Stone Card and two Wood Cards. Building of items is limited to the actual Cards in the Item Deck. If the Deck is out of a particular type of item, then no more of that item can be built until Cards are returned to the Item Deck. Losing The Game If a player has no Cards in his hand, and has no Cities in his possession, then he has been defeated and is no longer in the game. If he has even one City Card in play or one Resource Card in his hand, he is still in the game and can continue playing. When a player is eliminated, any Roads linking himto other Tribes are broken and are placed back in the Item Deck. Players who formerly were linked by Road through the destroyed Tribe are no longer considered to be linked. Winning The Game A player can win the game in three ways. The first way is for every other player to be eliminated from the game completely - in which case the player wins immediately. (See the section on Losing The Game for more details.) The second way is to acquire five Cities (by building or by conquest), thus becoming an Empire. The third way is to complete the player's tribal Monument by playing five Special Resource Cards, thus achieving status as a great cultural power. If a player has qualified to win the game at the end of his turn (by either building the monument, or owning five Cities), then a challenge round begins. The player must keep his winning status for one complete round of the game - that is, play continues until it is the winning player's turn again, including Market Day. If at the end of the winning player's turn, he still has the same conditions for victory - even if he has had to rebuild on his last turn to meet those conditions - then he wins. Otherwise, the game continues. Other players can qualify to win the game during the challenge round. They also have to survive and keep their winning conditions until it is their turn again. Several players can be vying for the win at the same time - the first person to begin and end a complete round with the necessary conditions for victory is the winner of the game. Credits Game Design and Development: Robert and Tamara Hayes Art Design And Direction: Wildcut Design, Romania The artwork and graphic design in this game were created by Vlad Stanescu, in memoriam of his father Dumitru Stanescu Be sure to visit www.legendgames.net to see rules updates, frequently asked questions, and to re-order copies of Age of Heroes or our other exciting board and card games. All text and images copyright 2003 by Legend Games. |